I Am Afraid

I am about halfway through "A Human Being Died That Night". The book describes a series of interviews with Eugene de Kock, the "Prime Evil". He was the commanding officer of state-sanctioned death squads under apartheid in South Africa.

I came upon a quote from de Kock:

"The question of whether what we did was legal or not did not come into the picture. How we did it was not important. The results were. People wanted to see results. They wanted to know that we were rooting out what at the time we called terrorism."

Another Geas Cast Upon Me

Every now and then it seems as if a geas (pronounced "gesch") has been cast upon me by some unseen, magical, agent of adventure.

I say geas, because I get these undeniable urges to do some particular thing that I know will end up being more significant then it first appears.

My latest geas is to read the book "A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness". As soon as I saw the book, I knew I had to read it; and I left my house quickly to find it -- geases typically do this to me.

My spirit is happy because people like Pumla are here.

Some Lasts (At Least for A While)

I just realized this could be my last Thanksgiving in the States for a couple years...that's a strange feeling (I should mention, I didn't think of this on my own, my recruiter mentioned it to me in an email).

This thought direction is propelling me to see the coming holidays in a more powerful and present light.

It looks like schedules will work out so that I am alone on Thanksgiving day -- that feels appropriate to me. I plan to spend the day thinking deeply about lasts.

The Last Tooth

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am the last errant tooth in my mouth finally gets its long coming attitude adjustment.

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The VA called back today and left a voicemail for me. Tomorrow I will call the number and try to setup my medical exam with the VA -- I never thought I would be getting a free medical exam from the VA.

This kinda thing always makes me wonder what other surprises my life has in store for me.

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Note to my Life: I love surprises, so get busy and throw some at me!

I Want to Understand

Last night, I saw a play called "Permanent Collection". The play explored the powerful impact of a particular virulent form of racism -- the extremely subtle form.

A key phrase from the play sticks in my mind:

We [the minority] spend our whole life trying to understand you [the majority], while you [the majority] do not even care enough to try to understand us [the minority].

Good Friends

Tonight, my good friend Dan is taking me out for an African celebration. He wanted to celebrate my nomination with me.

First, we are going to an African restaurant, The Blue Nile, and then to a play that has an African theme.

Dan is one of those kinds of friends that makes my heart smile.